"newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com epic ice storm. >> thermometer in my truck says degrees. >> reporter: storms stretching from new mexico to new england. frigid polar air plunging south, a third of the country shivering with windchills below zero. also, tale of the tape. >> you think you can't be shocked anymore. >> reporter: brand new allegations against toronto mayor rob ford. >> all of the evidence gathered in that case has been reviewed by the investigators. >> reporter: wire taps that apparently have ford offering $5,000 and a car for a video of him smoking crack. plus wage strike, thousands from coast to coast protest their paycheck. should the minimum wage be raised to 15 bucks? you're live in the "cnn

newsroom." good morning, i a'm carol costello. this just in, good news about the economy, two brand new snapshots of the u.s. economy, both striking ones. the gdp, the gross domestic product shot up 3.6% in the third quarter and a second report is showing the best private sector jobs growth all year. zain asher will join us had ffrw york in a minute. probably means the friday jobs market numbers will be very good. those numbers come out tomorrow. the fight to close that wage gap heats up today, in just about two hours thousands of fast food workers are expected to protest in 100 cities across the country, from new york city to new orleans, to oakland, trying to pressure employers into paying a livable wage of $15 an hour.

now they've got a powerful ally on their side, president obama. >> we know that we're going to have a greater and greater portion of our people in the service sector and we know that there are airport workers and fast food workers and nurse assistants and retail sales people who work their tails off and are still living at or barely above poverty. that's why it's well past the time to raise a minimum wage. >> but the message being pushed by the president and protesters doesn't sit well with some corporate executives. this is a dire prediction for 15 bucks an hour from an executive at white castle. >> there are groups out there that are asking and pleading to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and to more than double the federally mandated started wage wouldn't be bad for white

castle, it would be catastrophic. 406 restaurants and what we know is that would result in closing more than 200 of those restaurants and the ones remaining would be glowing embers, dying stars. >> alison kosik is at wendy's in brooklyn with more on the story for you. good morning, alison. >> reporter: good morning, carol. you know, those critics like one you just heard from, they're very outspoken about how counter-productive they think that raising the federal minimum wage could be, raising it from $7:25 to $15 an hour. they make no bones about it saying raising it that high could be bad for business. they say those businesses that would have to do that would have to wind up passing those costs on to consumers because they would have to raise the cost of their products. they also say it's a job killer, that it would lead to more automation meaning employees being replaced by let's say tablets so you go into a restaurant, you order on a tablet instead of talking to somebody, and then the food comes out. that's already happening. i don't know if you've noticed,

carol, but when i go to certain eating establishments i'm ordering on a tablet and not even having any interaction with an employee. carol? >> all right, alison kosik, we'll check back with you. let's head back to new york to our studios in and zain asher for more of the good news regarding our economy, and that's the gdp is up. this is sort of surprising, zain. >> reporter: hi, carol. absolutely, gdp coming in the third quarter at 3.6%, certainly a lot stronger than expected. the best quarter perhaps of gdp since first quarter of 2012. when you compare it to other economic data we've gotten so far this year, last quarter it came in at 2.5%, the first three months of this year 1.1%, so certainly an improvement. i want to mention part of the reason for this is a buildup in inventories, the best buildup since 1998, however consumer spend zg sling is slow. its in line with an improvement with the housing market and car sales as well.

what will this mean for fed tapering? we have the jobs report coming in tomorrow so all eyes on that and people will be asking themselves what does this gdp number mean what will it mean for the fed pulling back on stimulus? >> zain asher, thanks for the update. we appreciate it. now we have to talk about the weather because for millions of americans the worst of that massive arctic storm is yet to com. it's pounded the rocky mountains and the northern plains, two harbors, minnesota, got three feet of snow. today we see winter storm warnings from new mexico to ohio and look at this, snow and dangerous ice could hit from texas to ohio, causing slick roads and widespread power outages. another problem dangerously low temperatures, cities like minneapolis with a high of 9 degrees but it feels like 20 below with the windchill. farmers are rushing to protect a citrus drop from a hard freeze, temperatures dropped to 30 degrees or lower and dallas is

getting ready for a drastic temperature drop. >> we're texans. it's 80 degrees today and the next day it's going to be 30 so you never -- people panic. >> it's not all bad news, in colorado, skiers and snowboarders rejoysed as more than two inches of snow fell on some of the mountains in one hour. some places got as much as 19 inches of fresh powder. joining us now is cnn's ana cabrera in denver, colorado, and i don't think they're happy about the amount of snowfall this morning. >> reporter: oh, it is just frigid cold, and that's an judd statement here this morning, carol. you can see the steam rising from the building behind me, denver tied the record low this morning for this date at negative 15 degrees, set a new record for yesterday's date at negative 13 last night so we're still getting colder as you can tell and this air isn't going

away any time soon. that arctic chill is just continuing to spread. a dangerous and drastic temperature plunge has millions shivering this morning across the country. >> well, the thermometer in my truck said seven degrees as i was driving over here so it's cold. >> reporter: overnight the mercury dipping lower, some places experience bone-chilling feels like temps of 30 to 40 degrees below zero. the arctic blast stretching from the southern rockies to duluth, minnesota. this massive winter storm is unleashing strong winds and heavy snow, a treacherous combination, creating poor visibility and super slick conditions. >> people started going into the ditch, losing control of their vehicles. >> reporter: in denver a van rolls off a deceptively slippery road and in south dakota a tanker truck slides off the highway, the relentless snow and ice piling up across the

nation's mid section. it's a lot of hard work for residents trying to clear those driveways and sidewalks and the heavy equipment struggling to keep up across the country's interstates and highways with some spots seeing more than a foot of snow in a matter of hours. >> anybody that can't find a place to be indoors, that's obviously a real problem. >> reporter: and sadly we've learned of at least one weather related death because of this arctic front, in minnesota a 16-year-old girl died on her way to school, she lost control after hitting slush and losing control mind the wheel. very slow going on the highways, it is so slick, the snow and ice not going away any time soon. in fact it could be well into next week before the temperatures get above freezing, carol? >> ana cabrera, many thanks to

you. let's talk sports now. college football's top ranked florida state seminoles head to charlotte to prepare for the acc title game. will their quarterback, heisman quarterback candidate jamis winston be on the plane? winston's attorney is taking a wait and see attitude. >> in 20 years of practice i never try to guess what mr. mags is going to do. i've seen him go both ways. i think he did a complete investigation. i know i pressured him to hurry the investigation. i know the media has questions and he has a desire to get this off his plate but realize it's been about three weeks since he's had it, complicateder us, some tests being done. >>en kr cnn's martin savidge, s

odd they'd have a press conference. >> it struck me the same way. i was trying to figure out what does that mean? does it mean in this particular way the state attorney is going to publicly clear this star football player for the state team or does it mean that there's going to be an indictment and that's the real question. 2:00 this afternoon you can bet that fsu fans are going to be on the edge of their seat, many people will be on the edge of their seat, that is when we find out if in fact there will be any charges against jameis winston. if he gets a felony charming against him as you pointed out he will not be going to the big game this weekend, also the heisman trophy is up, he's considered a front-runner to receive that. vote something going on right now. how is all of that being impacted and of course there is the young woman who made the allegations that says her case has not been taken seriously. it has been reported that dna evidence does link winston to this woman, her allegation is that almost exactly a year ago she was raped by him. authorities say they investigated but that not long after the investigation began

she "broke off contact" with them. i'm not sure exactly what that means and the attorney for winston later said he thought the case was going nowhere, in other words there wouldn't be any charges. today we'll find out if that's really the case. >> is it fair he doesn't go to the game if there are charges in. >> those are the rules, those are the standard rules so he would not be able to go presumably he's going to be brought in, whether he would actually be in jail or whether he's given some kind of bail, that would be determined but we're jumping ahead here. it's waiting to find out if, in fact, these charges are going to be made. winston says that the sex that occurred was consensual. the family of the young woman says no, it was rape. >> we'll see at 2:00 this afternoon eastern time. martin savidge, many thanks. he's refusing to resign after admitting that he smoked crack. now the toronto mayor is dealing with an explosive set of new allegations. cnn legal correspondent jean

casarez has that story. good morning, jean. >> good morning. wire tapped conversations have just been unsealed by a judge, the transcripts, did the mayor of born toe actually offer $5,000 and a car so that infamous video would not be released, the video of him allegedly smoking crack cocaine? i'll have more right after this. a

checking our top stories, roger mason jr. got robbed while he was out for a late night dinner. four hooded men emptied the

register and swiped his two-toned diamond rolex. police arrested two of the suspects and are looking for the other two, they managed to recover mason's watch and his sister's purse. in money news this morning, two positive signs for the economy just in, the gdp jumped 3.6% in the third quarter, the gdp reflects the size of the economy and it's a good indicator of its health. in a separate report the payroll processor, adp says the private sector job growth last month was the strongest of the year. ♪ got to get up while we're young ♪ ♪ cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run ♪ own a piece of the boss, bruce springsteen's "born to run" machinuscript goes on the auction block next hour. sotheby's new york expects it to bring in $100,000. ♪

$5,000 and a car, that's the offer toronto mayor rob ford reportedly made in exchange for the tape that authorities say shows him smoking crack cocaine but the mayor denied those allegations this morning on the radio. >> number one, that's an outright lie and number two, you can talk to my lawyers about it but i'm here to talk about football and other things. if you want to talk about other things unfortunately i have to let you go. >> obviously he was on a sports radio station. there are also allegations that the mayor left his cell phone at that crack house and thank then had a driver try to get it back by offering the dealers inside that house marijuana. one more thing, allegations of heroin use, too, and drinking and driving and threats on instagram. the list is long but you get the point. we're learning all of this from newly released documents that include wire taps or phone calls between two suspected drug dealers.

cnn's legal correspondent jean casarez joins me now more from new york. this is just incredible. >> from everything we're reading in the documents, this is very ironic, because the toronto police, carol, they wanted to probe into a drug gang, they're called the dixon city bloods, in toronto. they went to a judge to execute wire taps on 59 phones. they got those wire taps so they started listening to all of these conversations, what name do they begin to hear in march 2013? the toronto mayor, rob ford, and so what they did, they finally heard a conversation on march 27th, which was early on in the probe, where somebody by the name of sayadin abdi said "i've got this video and he's telling me he'll pay me $5,000 and give me a car if it's not released" and they were really sarcastic about it, some alleged drug dealer by the named of mohammed

owned the video i'm going to go to him and say $100,000 to $150,000. that's what we need." there are allegations he went to the crack house and got the drugs april 20th, important date because his name is mentioned, rob ford, the name is mentioned 1:00 in the morning, one of the alleged drug dealers gets a call, all recorded, not released, just the transcripts but they say rob ford is on the way to the crack house and he needs the drugs, and then somebody else is saying that he smoked his rocks all day, and carol the mayor has come out saying this morning on washington, d.c., sportstalk radio, these are outright lies and the spoken word, talk is cheap, right? so investigators are going to look to see what is corroborated. april 20th his cell phone is stolen at the crack house, so say the people on the tape, and later on that day, the mayor tells his staff "i misplaced my cell phone, i can't find it." there are some things that link up but at this point it's an ongoing investigation and we

believe police were surprised -- >> could you stop for a second. it's an ongoing investigation but the mayor admitted to smoking crack cocaine. why isn't he charged with a crime? >> that may be the next step. with the release of these transcripts and by the way these transcripts were sealed but canadian lawyers for the media went to the judge and said we believe these should be public knowledge, that's why they were unsealed and if you look at these, there are more potential charges than just drugs, tampering with witnesses, tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, so we'll see what the next step is. >> i'm sure we will. jean casarez, many thanks to you. still to come in "the newsroom," more than 40 whales still stranded near florida everglades national park. [ male announcer ] here's a question for you:

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the actor paul walker may have survived the initial impact of saturday's fatal car crash. autopsy results suggest the "fast & furious" star died from a combination of traumatic injuries and from the resulting fire. coroner's report also confirms his friend, roger rodas, was indeed driving the car when it crashed. universal pictures says the production of the next "fast & furious" movie has been shut down. the "fast & furious" franchised released this two-minute video tribute to walker on its youtube channel. this morning, 41 pilot

whales are stranded into shallow water off florida's everglades national park. they aren't sure how many can be saved, it's also still not clear when the whales got there or why. cnn's john zarrella has more from the everglades. >> reporter: carol the coast guard has joined the effort to save the whales a cutter will provide a security perimeter around the animals as well as three smaller coast guard vessels but clearly time is running out. from the air they look like black pearls in the waters of the gulf of mexico, surrounded them, biologists, national park rangers and volunteers. the whales have been stuck in shallow water for at least two days now. the outlook is not good. >> there isn't a whole lot we can do. we tried this technique called herding, trying to get the boats around them and kind of nudge them out either by sound or

moving them around. it wasn't effective the first round. last i heard they were trying a second time. >> reporter: from the water we could see the rescuers trying to herd the whales, keeping them from heading to the beach where some have already died. moving them towards deeper water. wildlife officials say there were about 50 whales that stranded themselves. biologists say they don't know why. of those just over three dozen are still alive. >> you're saying there might be hope moving away from the area. the challenge is to get them to go out into deeper water, all freely swimming. >> reporter: the frustrating part, park officials say the whales keep circling back. if the whales won't make their way back into deeper water it's only a matter of time before they go into distress and this oir bodies shut down. at that point they'll have to be euthanized. some of the remaining whales are officials say xipting signs of distress. how much longer they can survive, no one is sure but the

res cuers will remain out there until they're saved or all hope is gone. the dilemma, these whales are a family, when one or more than one in trouble, stranded themselves and died on the beach like so many of these have, the rest of the whales are reluctant to leave. carol? >> we'll keep you posted. thanks, john. still to come in "the newsroom," a day after she admitted to using cocaine, celebrity chef sni gel lalawson takes the stand again this morning. cnn's erin mclaughlin is in london. >> reporter: nigella lawson telling the court today she'd rather be honest about drugs than bullied by lies. i'll have more about that in a moment. i'm ed lavandera in dallas, tex texas. the ice storm is coming, north texas braces for the worst. ♪

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good morning. i'm carol costello, thanks so much for joining me. checking our top stories at 31 minutes past the hour, vice president joe biden met this morning in beijing with china's president. biden said he has deep concerns about china's new air defense zone.

the two men talked privately for two hours and he reportedly reiterated the opposition to the zone. he openly criticized china's crackdown on journalists. toronto mayor rob ford tried to buy a damaging video from suspected criminals with a offer of 5,000 bucks and a car, according to reported phone conversations between the suspects, all part of a police investigation. ford is calling the claim on sports radio this morning an outright lie. >> that's an outright lie and number two, you can talk to my lawyers about it, but i'm here to talk football, guys. if you want to talk football i'll talk football. if you want to talk about other things then i'll unfortunately have to let you go. >> as of this moment, ford has not been charged in any crime. today at 2:00 p.m. eastern we're expecting to find out if jameis winston will face prosecution. he's accused of sexual assault. the prosecutor will make an announcement later this

afternoon. winston is considered a favorite to win the heisman strovy. the massive arctic front that already jumped several feet of snow is moving southeast and it could cause a dangerous ice storm. we're talking about this area from texas to ohio, millions of people could see snow and ice plus dangerous roads and even major power outages. dallas it's affecting temperatures to drop below freezing along with a nasty, wintry mix. cnn's ed lavandera is in dallas this morning. good morning, ed. >> reporter: good morning, carol. few hours ago late yesterday afternoon we were here in clyde warren park, downtown dallas, 80 degrees, people walking around in shorts, playing in the splash park. oh, my, how things have changed. late wednesday, city parks in downtown dallas looked more like a california coast boardwalk. >> we're texans, it's 80 degrees today and the next day it's going to be 30 so you never -- people panic. >> reporter: a mass of arctic air and rain is threatening to turn these scenes of paradise

into this. it seems like the dallas-ft. worth area experiences epic battles with sheets of ice causing power outages, shutting down schools, not even leaving children with snow to play in. street crews will be available to work around the clock using 70 trucks to spread a mixture of salt on the icy streets if needed but this potential ice storm is threatening two major events, a downtown holiday parade saturday and the dallas marathon sunday. slippery ice doesn't go well with marchers and runners. the last wicked winter storm was in 2011 in the days leading up to the super bowl hosted in the dallas cowboys stadium. football fans struggled to navigate the treacherous roadways and street crews struggled to keep many roadway its drivable.

of course the real danger is on the high-rise overpasses across the dallas-ft. worth area. those will freeze up quickly and be treacherous to drive and from what we can tell it appears the weather conditions will begin to detiereier deteriorate and a dangerous situation into the overnight, a lot of businesses and schools will be monitoring this situation closely tonight and figure out exactly what to do tomorrow. it would not be surprising if businesses and many schools decide to close on friday. so we'll see how that plays out throughout the day. >> ed lavandera reporting live from dallas this morning. a second passenger in sunday's deadly train derailment in new york filed a claim against operator metro north. edward russell was hurt when all seven train cars flew off the tracks. russell asked for $10 million in punitive damages, citing negligence on the part of metro north, the mta and the city and state of new york.

after she came clean about using cocaine, nigella lawson is back on the stand in the trial of two former assistants. the grillo sisters are accused of charging more than $1 million in luxury items for themselves on company credit cards that belonged to lawson and her ex-husband. cnn's erin mclaughlin is live in front of the courthouse in london. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. when nigella lawson arrived at court she said she felt a bit tired, not given surprising she has chose on it stand not sit through hours of testimony. today the defense grilling her about her admitted cocaine use. she said quite simply she'd rather be honest about drug use than bullied by lies. she also talked about now infamous incident that took place outside a very famous london cafe in june an incident that resulted in photos being splashed across the british

tabloids showing her now former husband charles saatchi, his hands around her neck. she said following that incident saatchi made up stories that he was examining her for cocaine at the time the photographs were taken. she also went on to testify about one of the defendants, francesca grillo, a former assistant, described her as a fantacist saying she was responsible for cleaning their house as well as arranging saatchi's frappuchino's and eggs. she went through lists amounting to thousands of dollars funding the former couple's luxurious lifestyle, a lot of personal details coming out. we now know that charles saatchi's preferred breakfast is burnt toast and weak tea. carol? >> somehow that's fitting. erin mclaughlin, thanks so much. still to come, thousands of

americans depend on defibrillators in the event of a heart emergency. now the fda says the defibrillators might not work. we'll be right back.

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of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar, but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza®. he said victoza® is different than pills. victoza® is proven to lower blood sugar and a1c. it's taken once-a-day, any time, and comes in a pen. and the needle is thin. victoza® is not for weight loss, but it may help you lose some weight. victoza® is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and should not be used in people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. victoza® has not been studied with mealtime insulin. victoza® is not insulin. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza®

or any of its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include: swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat, fainting or dizziness, very rapid heartbeat, problems breathing or swallowing, severe rash or itching. tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. serious side effects may happen in people who take victoza®, including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which may be fatal. stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have signs of pancreatitis, such as severe pain that will not go away in your abdomen or from your abdomen to your back, with or without vomiting. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you have any medical conditions. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, and headache. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. if your pill isn't giving you the control you need ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza®. it's covered by most health plans.

some 2 million user names and passwords stolen in a massive hack that includes facebook, gmail and twitter accounts. hackers got the information installing key logging software on computers around the world, among the most popular passwords that were stolen? 123456, 123456789, the word password and admin. we can do better than this people. facebook and twitter reset the passwords. google, yahoo! and linkedin did not respond to our request for comment. an fda warning to tell you about a this morning, the agency says certain defibrillators made by phillips health care may not work in an emergency. senior medical correspondette elizabeth cohen joins me now.

it disturbing. >> it is. you see these things hanging in malls and in airports and whatnot and sporting arenas and they're supposed to work when someone collapses because they've gone into cardiac arrest. the electric shock that's supposed to deliver the particular brands might not happen. the three brands recalled, the recall is last year. the news today is that the fda is saying look, tens of thousands of these might still be out there even though they were recalled so you need to pay attention. >> so do we know if any deaths were caused by these malfunctions defibrillators? >> we asked that question and they were told they know of no deaths but then again how would you know? right? if someone was in cardiac arrest, you try to give them a shock, they die, was it a defibrillator, it's a hard thing to parse out but the important thing is people need to take action. if you own one of these, because

some people have them in their home or own a mall and has one of these you have to get in touch with phillips health care we'll give you the 800 number and the e-mail for who you need to call and get in touch with. >> where are they? >> they should be up right now. 1-800- -- i speak and it happens. >> fantastic. >> take a look, you have one of the phillips brands get in touch with the folks. >> will do. many thanks. here's what's new on the next hour of "newsroom" shoppers, brace yourselves. the country faces a new deadl e deadline, your lawmakers have until the end of the year to reach a deal that impacts farmer answer ranchers and if they don't? >> we'll see our milk prices double and that means that that price is going to have to be pamsed down to the consumer. >> reporter: we're talking things like milk as much as seven oo eight bucks a gallon. also ahead the old mustang

is getting a new look. find out what's changing under the hood all new in the next hour of "newsroom." driver ] toe knew all about a bike accident, just by talking to a hel it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everything works like never before. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress, the fcc, and the administration free up... more licensed wireless spectrum, we can empower more... people to innovate, create new technologies and jobs... and strengthen the economy.

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checking our top stories at 48 minutes past the hour, an ice storm, millions of people could lose power, driving conditions could get very dangerous. as a result of the giant arctic storm causing temperatures to plummet out west and durping several feet of snow across the rockies and midwest. new details about the reach of the nsa spying program ap. according to documents leaked by former nsa contractor edward snowden the agency gathers nearly 5 billion phone records every day that show the whereabouts of cell phones around the world. the nsa can track movements of individuals and keep track of anyone they call. a mystery man leaving huge

tips at restaurants across the country has struck again and it's a good thing. this time in washington state, when the bartender read the receipt and saw the $5,000 tip, he double checked with the tipper to make sure it was not a mistake. the man had been signing each tip with the instagram user name "tips for jesus" so at least that bartender saw the mystery man in person. mexican authorities have found a stolen truck packed with radioactive material. the thieves thought they were stealing an ordinary truck but the truck was carrying material that could have been used to make a dirty bomb, found not far from where it was taken on monday. authorities believe they recovered most of the cobalt 60 that was headed for a radioactive waste storage center but those thieves may have cracked open that device and may have been exposed to radioactivity. cnn's nick parker is in mexico city to tell us more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. yes, the truck found or reported

found late yesterday afternoon in the town of zampango, a one-hour drive north of mexico city, only 40 kilometers from where it was originally stolen at they found this container of cobal t-60. the container had been open. the seals had been broken, presumably by these thieves. and they did find the isotope in the container. at this stage we're still trying to finally confirm that none of it is missing. it seems like most of it was, indeed, there. you know, radiation was detected in the area and today we're look at a number of questions stemming from this discovery. i guess the first is the fallout from this discovery of cobalt-60. members of the public are not actually at risk unless they came within about 20 meters of the discovery of this isotope.

at this stage we spoke to the ministry of health this morning and they say they've had no reports at this stage of any kind of radiation sickness or burns. one thing authorities have told us, though, is that they do expect that the thieves who originally stole this and presumably open this had container may well have been extremely exposed to this radiation. so, they are watching for clinics for anyone with any signs of radiation. at this stage the two robbers are at large. one other question also raised by nuclear officials, nuclear safety officials, that is, who we spoke to a short time ago, is the safety record of the transport company that was transporting, you know, this highly radioactive material. what they told us is that the company had violated a few laws with this truck. some of the major things it was lacking was, firstly, efficient security to protect the truck from this kind of hijacking. secondly, they said that the

drivers who were transporting the material had very little or no knowledge of the radioactive material that they were transporting, which is obviously an important thing to happen that's in the law. and, thirdly, they were lacking some of the important equipment that should always be transported when you are moving this kind of material around the country, such as a gps. so, a number of threats to this story still outstanding, carol. >> nick parker reporting live from mexico this morning. game called on account of fire. smoke filled an arena, postponing a basketball game. ♪

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florida state quarterback williamson has to face a judge and injury for a sexual assault if charges are brought against him at 2:00 eastern this afternoon. here with the breecher report and more on this story. >> jamison winston is the overwhelming favorite to win the heisman trophy this year. heisman voters have until monday to turn in their ballots. many, of course, were waiting to see if the allegations against winston would play out before

sending those ballots in. his lawyer claims his client did have sex with the accuser but claims it was consensual. a press conference is scheduled as opposed to getting a warrant for winston's arrest is a big sign that they will not be pressing charge this is afternoon. of course, we'll have to wait and see. mike tomlin's wallet is $100,000 lighter today, for getting into kobe jones' way on the field during a kickoff, second largest fine ever given to a coach. steelers may have a draft pick taken away. nfl will decide that after the season. nba game was canceled when the power went out and the arena filled with smoke. >> that will do it. >> right? generator malfunctioned. the game was in mexico city. international fans could experience best basketball in the world firsthand. they'll make up the game but not in mexico. san antonio will play at

minnesota. bleacherreport.com, super bowl may be two months away, but fox has announced they've already sold out of all available commercial spots and, hey, they weren't cheap, carol. some of the spots sold for a cool $4.5 million, breaking last year's record of $4 million. 30 seconds, $4.5 million. >> that's crazy. i like that one, though. >> star nfl line backer and your name is ron mayo? >> i don't know. >> you came out with your own line of gourmet mayonnaise, right? kicking buffalo, bruising bacon and crushing chipotle, available in boston-area stores and online. sign me up for a bottle of each of these. i love mayonnaise and probably i would love all these. >> i would, too. i like to pile it on any sandwich i eat. andy scholes, thanks so much.

next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts right now. happening now in the n"newsroom" striking shot of the u.s. economy. at first glance it looks like we're on a tear. but is it a tale of two nations? just try to pry it out of his hands. president obama fought to keep his blackberry when he got to the white house. now another reason he won't be switching to the iphone. plus this -- >> we're going to see our milk prices double. and that means that that price is going to have to be passed on to the consumer. >> shoppers be warned, keeping milk in your fridge may soon cost you double. if congress doesn't get its act together. second hour of "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for join iing

me. gdp came in at 4.63%, much higher than expected but it may not be as strong as some had hoped. good morning. >> good morning, carol. two good economic reports, 2.63% growth in the third quarter driven in large part because companies were stocking their shelves, getting ready for holiday sales. 3.46% is the best we've seen in a year and a half and stronger than people expected. jobless claims report has slowed dramatically. it might have been distorted a little bit by thanksgiving, economists are telling me this morning. it's two upbeat economic reports. why are stocks not happy that the economy is strong? likely that means it's more ammunition for the idea that the fed will have to take the training wheels off the economy. one other piece of new ice got

43 seconds ago, carol, was mortgage rates. get those every thursday morning. mortgage rates ticked higher, 4.46% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. lot of forecast and mortgage rates, carol, especially if the economy starts to strengthen into next year. mortgage rates will rise from here. so don't delay if you still want to get one of those mortgages below 5%. carol? >> thanks, christine romans. we appreciate it, despite that good economic news, the wage gap remains very large in this country. fast food workers across the nailg nation are taking to the picket lines, fighting to close that pay gap, calling for a raise up to 15 bucks an hour, nearly $25,000 a year if you work full time. powerful ally on its side now, president obama. >> we know that we're going to have a greater and greater portion of our people in the service sector.

we know there are airport workers, fast food workers and nurse assistants and retail salespeople who work their tails off and are still living at or barely above poverty. that's why it's well past the time to raise a minimum wage. >> so the president wants the minimum wage to rise to 10 bucks an hour, but that message being pushed by the president and protesters does not sit well with some corporate executives. here is the dire prediction from an executive at white castle. >> groups out there are asking and pleading to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and to more than double the federally mandated minimum wage wouldn't be bad for white castle. it would be catastrophic. that would result in closing more than 200 of those restaurants and the ones remaining would be glowing embers, dying stars. >> alison kosik is at a wendy's

in brooklyn with more for you. good morning, alison. >> reporter: good morning, carol. very quiet here. we're hearing that protesters, about a couple of hundred of them are expected to arrive in a few hours. why all of a sudden is it growing? you think about what happened in the recession. 8 million jobs were lost. the reality is that a lot of those jobs haven't come back. what has happened now is that people are having to get these minimum wage jobs. a lot of people over the age of 25. that is really building this momentum. here is more. >> workers are taking these jobs because they are desperate in an economy that is still not creating enough middle class jobs or jobs that have a ladder to the middle class. >> and many are wondering, do these strikes work? do these work to move that

federal minimum wage to many say while these folks are long off in that respect, others are saying this is resonating in other ways. we've been keeping track of people continually going on these protests over the past year who work at these fast food restaurants. once their boss has caught wind they were taking part in these protests, the bosses have hiked up the number of hours they've had or even hiked up their pay and even given them promotions. carol? >> interesting. protests across the country start officially at 11:00 eastern time this morning, right? >> reporter: i think you're seeing different protests start at different times. there was actually one over at a mcdonalds in manhattan. i'm here, covering the new york area in brooklyn right now. quiet now. a couple hundred expected to arrive in a couple of hours. >> alison kosik live if brooklyn this morning. for millions of americans, the worst of that arctic storm is yet to come.

it's pounded places like the northern plains. some places got three feet of snow. >> you can't go anywhere without the snow blower clogging up, stopping. >> 40 inches, that's incredible. we usually only get 00 a year and we've gotten almost half our snow already and we're not done. >> fun to play in it, throw snowballs at each other, you know. mostly building forts and wrecking them. >> well, it might be fun for the kids. but take a look at this. from texas all the way to ohio, snow and ice could cause slick roads and widespread power outages. another problem? dangerously low temperatures. minneapolis with a high of 8 degrees. but it will feel like 20 below zero with the windchill. and now dallas is getting ready for a drastic temperature drop and freezing rain. joining us from denver, ana

cabrera, who is already in the deep freeze. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. frigid cold, bone-chilling temperatures. the kind of cold it's hard to stand still for two too long. you just want to move to stay warm. negative 15 degrees was the low early this morning. that actually ties the record for this date here in denver set back in 1972. so in a place where snow and cold are fairly common in the wintertime, this ticks to a whole other level. of course, that also means that the snow and ice on the ground isn't melting any time soon. we've heard of a lot of slide-offs, a lot of spin-outs on the highways this morning. accidents are becoming more and more abundant. on that note, it's not just here in colorado. we've shown you the pictures of this snowy arctic system hitting so many parts of the united states. in minnesota we've now learn ed of at least one deth that's related to this weather system, a 16-year-old girl who died on

her way to school when she lost control of her car after hitting a slushy patch. warning to all drivers who are taking to the roads, be patient. take it slow. we've also heard of power outages here in colorado thanks to these very cold temperatures, carol. those power companies certainly have their work cut out for them as everybody tries their hardest to stay warm. >> i'm not going to be cruel and ask you a question. i want you to go get warm yourself. ana cabrera, many thanks to you. a snappy rhyme, minneapolis mayor is living proof that a sweet tweet can make thingses a tad more tolerable. for example, here are some of his fun tweets. rock out, wine and dine. by for snow emergency routes move your car by 9 or after a long day at work, i just

shoveled my walk, that snow was so heavy i can now barely talk. mayor r.t. rybak joins us now. good morning. >> good morning. those of you in these climates that have drab, rainy, cold days it's just as cold there as it is here. it's just a different way of looking at it. >> that's certainly a way of -- that's certainly glass half full. >> and when you look at that 34 inches of snow up on the north shore of minnesota, i just made reservations to go cross country skiing. i'm a happy guy. >> still it's going to be 8 degrees in minneapolis. that's the high temperature. how are people coping? >> you know what? there's a little secret we've got here in minnesota called silk long johns. you put those things on, wear a coat and go to work. and it's a beautiful thing we do here. >> still, i mean, your tweets had a purpose.

snow removal is very important in cities like yours but the rules are very difficult to understand sometimes. i know you were trying to make things a little easier through your tweets. did it work? >> yeah, definitely it worked. for those who didn't, i had to shame them a little bit. i said you ain't so groovy. you ain't no playa if you can't move your car without a poem from the mayor. it's important for people to move their car. otherwise the snow plow driver has to go around and leaves a big hump in the snow that sits out there in the streets for the whole year. so my goal is to starve the impound lot. people think they want the city to tow their car because we make money off of it. the idea is that we want everybody to move their car. we give them e-mail text alerts and reverse 911 calls and we go out into bathroom stalls and write in grease pencil. we do everything we can to tell people to move your darn car so we can plow the streets. people in minnesota get it. we move the cars, get them off

the streets and plow the streets. instead of in a lot of cities that wine about the snow, we get it done and get out and enjoy it. i want you to come in the first week in february for the city lakes. we have dog sled races, two-story high ice globes and we show the whole world that this is a theater of seasons. stop whining and loving it. >> that sounds great. i'm going up to minneapolis in february. mayor r.t. rybak, thank you so much. you're a lovely mayor. >> thank you. bye-bye. breaking news to tell you about now. and this breaking news of reuters is reporting that a gunman shot and killed an american chemistry teacher working at an international school in the libyan city of benghazi according to medical and security sources. director at the school in benghazi told reuters, quote, he was doing his morning exercise when gunmen just shot him down. i don't know why. he was so sweet with everyone.

not immediately clear who was responsible for this killing. we do have a reporter in tripoli and will bring you the latest when we have it. breaking news out of libya this morning. still to come in the newsroom, an offer of thousands of dollars in exchange for a video that could show the toronto mayor smoking crack, that is the latest claim of the political saga of rob ford. is this the bacon and cheese diet? this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups.

the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ checking our top stories at 15 minutes past, mexican authorities believe they've recovered all the radioactive material. the missing cobalt-60 had many

worried, including the united states. the suspects were still at large. besides using for medical purposes, cobalt-60 can also be used to make a dirty bomb. autopsy results suggest the "fast and furious" star died from a combination of traumatic injuries from the crash and the resulting fire. his friend, roger rodas, was driving the car when it crashed. the production of the next "fast and furious" movie has been shut down. 41 whales are still stranded off the coast of the florida everglades national park. officials have been working to save them. they say the outlook is not good. fishermen discovered the whales late tuesday, but it's not clear how they got there or why. toronto mayor rob ford was so desperate to keep a video showing his crack cocaine use out of the public eye that he offered two suspected drug dealers $5,000 and a car to hand it over.

that's what newly released wiretaps suggest. and that's not the only shocking claim. those suspects say ford smoked heroin, too. also on the wiretaps? allegations that the mayor left his cell phone at the crackhouse and then had his driver go back to the house to try to get the cell phone back by offering the drers inside that house marijua marijuana. cnn correspondent jean casarez is in new york on this ever-evolving story. good morning. >> good morning, carol. did he know about the video as early as march? the case blew up in may. did he try to bribe an alleged drug dealer? the mayor of toronto, minutes ago, went on a sports talk radio station in washington, d.c. and he was posed a very tough questio question. >> what do you say to that? these are wiretaps from gang members who say you offered $5,000 if not more, $150,000 and a car to confiscate the video of

you doing crack on the tape. what would you say to that? >> number one, that's an outright lie. and, number two can you talk to my lawyers about it. but i'm here to talk football. >> and the mayor went on to say that he looks forward to the election next october, that he has supporters and that he will continue to serve as mayor. now, carol, we want to tell everybody that the way this happened was that toronto police were targeting a rather large drug gang and so they got wiretaps to listen to the conversations and they suddenly hear the mayor's name. that's what we believe started all of this. and they hear about this video that exists and the mayor is saying that he'll pay some money so it's not released. here is the interesting thing. all of these interviews were in a somalian language and had to be translated to then have those transcripts released in english, which they were yesterday by a judge. >> the story is so strange, you don't even know what question to

ask next. the most glaring question is why is this guy still in office? >> you know, everybody is saying why isn't he charged yet? i think we have the answer from these transcripts. it's one thing to have an alleged video of him smoking crack, but when you look at these transcripts, they were building a case. and the transcripts say that they not only intercepted 59 cell phone conversations for several months, but they had gps monitoring, cell phone pings to find out where the vehicles and the cell phones actually were. and they used a public monitoring system that they have in canada to be able to view vehicles as they drive around. how much more, carol, do they allegedly have on the mayor? >> and how much more do they really need before they file charges against him? >> well, they want to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt -- at least in american standards -- that they can convict him of any crimes that he is charged with. and sometimes that takes time. >> jean casarez, thank you so

much. poor people in toronto. we'll be right back. cg/úññ [ female announcer ] we give you relief from your cold symptoms. you give them the giggles. tylenol cold® helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol cold®.

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a second passenger in the deadly train derailment has filed a lawsuit. edward russell was seriously hurt when the train flew off its tracks. $10 million in punitive damages

citing negligence on the part of metro north, mta and the city and state of new york. some people have speculated that the driver of that train may have been tired. he had recently switched to a new and much earlier schedule. our transportation correspondent rene marsh found, driving when you're tired can be as dangerous as driving when you're drunk. >> reporter: a 71-year-old woman asleep at the wheel. her car crashes through the windshield of an oncoming car. everyone survives. and in florida, a police officer's dash cam captured a reported drowsy driver smashing into his cruiser. both lived. drowsy drivers cause an estimated 40,000 injury and more than 1,500 deaths annually. being awake for more than 20 hours can cause impairment equal to a blood alcohol level o

of .08%, the legal limit. >> similar to alcohol intoxication, your reflexes, responses and data processing speed would be slower. >> 20% of accidents involve drowsy drivers, according to researchers here at verge yain tech. no sleep means bad moves on the road. awake for 21 hours, i got behind the wheel. i drove the 2.2 mile test track at virginia tech transportation institute. nearly an hour later, cameras installed inside the car captured my eye movements. slow blinking, one indication of a drowsy driver. >> put your turn signal on, that you're going to pass them. >> wrong thing. >> you start making errors. now you're drifting outside the lane a little bit. >> if i'm starting to kind of nod off, it follows my face down. >> virginia tech researchers are developing facial tracking

software that could one day be installed in vehicles. >> how did i do? >> it was good. there was -- certainly had some effects of fatigue, lot of slow eyelid closures. i could definitely tell you were fatigued. we made it back in one piece. >> a 10-minute nap can restore the body somewhat. the more, the better. rene marsh, cnn, washington. >> wow! still to come in the "newsroom" you use them to protect your e-mail and other accounts. millions of passports have been stolen in an international hack attack. details for you next.

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a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation -- an irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto®, jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto®. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afib-related stroke risk. but xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. that doesn't require routine blood monitoring.

so jim's not tied to that monitoring routine. [ gps ] proceed to the designated route. not today. [ male announcer ] for patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, without talking to the doctor who prescribes it as this may increase the risk of having a stroke. get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto® and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions

such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is not for patients with artificial heart valves. jim changed his routine. ask your doctor about xarelto®. once a day xarelto® means no regular blood monitoring -- no known dietary restrictions. for more information and savings options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. an american teaching school there was shot and killed while he was jogging in the morning. this incident happened very near the american consulate that came under attack in which, of course, the u.s. ambassador and three other americans were killed, all according to reuters. we have a reporter there now in tripoli. do we know anything more about

what happened? >> carol, at the u.s. embassy here in tripoli has not yet confirmed -- hearing from multiple -- libyan news agencies reporting this. no official confirmation as of yet. it is not an isolated incident, carol. as you mentioned, benghazi consulate -- [ poor audio ] -- not a first. multiple times. this was the first time seeing a civilian, american or western civilian being targeted. in the past, it has been diplom diplomatic institutions, government organizations. when we were there a few months ago, carol, the city was empty of westerners. [ poor audio ] really had driven many westerners out of benghazi. just last month in late october there was also an attack on the

swedish consulate there, no casualties. this is not the first time we're seeing westerners being targeted. u.s. government and other western governments have warned their citizens of going to benghazi and the areas around it because of the activity. the government has no control over these groups. no one is being held accountable even in the benghazi consulate, we've not seen anyone yet being brought to justice. >> we're going to let you go. the phone connection isn't that great. rigeuters is also reporting thi. a director at the school in benghazi told reuters, quote, he was doing his morning exercise when gunmen just shot him. i don't know why. he was so sweet with everyone. they're in disbelief this morning. again, an american teacher, teaching at an international school in benghazi, libya, was

shot and killed this morning very near that u.s. consulate that came under attack where the american ambassador and three other americans were killed. we'll keep you posted when we get new information in. at 31 minutes past, blockbuster gdp number this morning. the economy grew 3.6% last quarter, higher than estimated. the number may not be as strong as it sounds. americans have more money in their pockets but are spending it at the slowest pace in four years. companies are stockpiling goods, which may hurt manufacturing next year. new details about the reach of the nsa spying program. according to documents leaked by nsa contractor edward snowen. the agency gathers nearly 5 billion records every day that show the whereabouts of cell phones around the world. nsa can track movements of individuals and keep track of anyone they call. some 2 million user names and passwords stolen in a massive hack attack, including facebook, g-mail and twitter

accounts. hackers got the information and then posted it online. our chief business correspondent, christine romans, is in new york with more on this. good morning. >> good morning. posted it online, carol, for other hackers to see and use as well. let me show you the hack attack and the numbers for who was hacked here. it's facebook, twitter, all these names you know so well. how do they do it? key logging virus software secretly infected these people's computers and copied log-in credentials for websites and sent them back to the hackers. it means they've got the passwords, probably got personal information. it's a whole lot of people here. this is a massive hack attack on the heels of another one earlier this fall. 38 million passwords, you remember, were hacked from adobe. there are some problems. malware. there are problems with security. a lot of people have to be very careful here and watch to see if

anyone has stolen their information or identities. >> how can people protect snemsz. >> first thing you have to do is update your anti-virus software. that's the first -- the first thing you do right away. download the latest patches for your internet browsers. it's easy to just kind of log on and keep going on and on. you really have to keep up with all of that for internet browsers, for adobe, for java. i want to show you the most frequently used passwords, carol. you don't want to have these passwords. apparently these are the most popular passwords. 1234 123456. 123456789. i -- password. admin. >> leave your tv set and do it now. >> and watch carefully. >>. thanks, carol. >> thanks, christine. blackberry can count on its

president in chief, president obama. here is what he had to say in 2008 shortly after he was elected. >> i'm still clinging to my blackberry. they're going to pry it out of my hands. >> there may be a more critical reason why the president cannot leave his blackberry behind. brianna keilar is in washington to tell us why. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. they did not pry that blackberry out of the president's hands when he came into the white house. but yesterday he actually said while he was pitching the affordable care act to young people that it's for security reasons that he doesn't have an iphone and that he still has a blackberry. that said, he has been very loyal to the brand, which he came into the white house using. you could definitely say it was a crack berry for him and continues to be. it's pretty fascinating because of the fact that george w. bush didn't use e-mail and he certainly was president during the time of handheld mobile devices. he didn't have one. but president obama, that's

certainly a tool that he has always had. now i will say, though, the president doesn't completely shun all apple products. he uses the ipad quite a bit when he's looking at news or reviewing one of his speeches. it was also interesting yesterday, carol. he talked about how his daughters, sasha and malia spend quite a bit of time on their iphones. we saw that during the inaugural parade just this past january, that they were taking photos of the parade and photos of their parents and even taking some selfies. the president, no, he can't have an iphone, saying it's for security reasons. >> understand. brianna keilar, at the white house this morning. budget battle hits your refrigerator. many of us could see milk prices double, unless congress acts soon. too big. too small. too soft. too tasty. [ both laugh ]

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the least productive congress in history may now hit you where it hurts the most. that would be your wallet. how does 7 bucks a gallon of milk sound? zane asher joins us to tell us why. >> if congress doesn't pass the farm bill, then the policy would revert back to a law that requires the government to provide major subsidies to farmers. the reason why they provided major subsidies is the dairy industry was a lot smaller. the government intervened at a much sort of larger scale.

the problem is that they would buy milk prices at double the rate. if congress doesn't come to an agreement by january 1st, that is what you may see happen and it may reduce the quantity of milk seen in stores. the average price of a gallon of milk is $3.47. you may see that price rise as much as $7 a gallon. anything that contains milk, butter, cheese, those price could also rise and also other commodities like corn and soy and wheat and that kind of thing. >> now you would think that congress would have a political motivation to pass the farm bill f that happens, people will be really mad. >> not only will people be mad but even move away from milk and find alternatives. the bottom line is that a lot of people are saying that congress is definitely motivated to pass this bill, especially because nobody wants consumers to pay up to $7 a gallon for milk. here is the problem. the farm bill in and of itself

is made up of so many components, the most debatable is food stamps. senate wants to cut it back and the house. so many people rely on food stamps and the numbers have risen dramatically since the recession. carol? >> they'll work, what, four, five days this month? maybe they'll get it together. zain asher, thank you so much. >> of course. 50 years since the ford mustang hit the streets of america. now an entirely new design for the pony car. a live report from new york, next. across america people are taking charge

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to double the minimum wage. president obama has expressed support to raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour. celebrity chef nigella lawson is back on the stand after her shocking admission on stand that she used cocaine. two former assistants are on the stand for fraudulently spend morgue than $1 million. miami heat guard robert mason jr. got robbed while he was out for dinner. they emptied the cash register and they swiped mason's two-tone diamond rolex. police have now arrested two of the suspects, still looking for the other two. yes, they did manage to recover mason's watch and his sister's purse. it is here. after months of speculation and anticipation from fans of the pony car, the newly redesigned ford mustang has finally been revealed. ooh, she's a beauty, isn't she? ford is promising more power,

better fuel economy and to the chagrin of some fans, four cylinder engine. cnn takes a look. >> reporter: ford motor company has unveiled a completely newly redesigned mustang. this is, without a doubt, one of the most significant mustangs. independent rear suspension, solid rear axel almost every mustang has had since 1964. second, it will be available with a 300 horsepower turbo charged engine for buyers who want performance and fuel economy. first time it's been available on a base model mustang. and that big 5-liter v-8 will be available, too, and a v-6 engine for cost-conscious buyers. the new mustang goes on sale in the fall of 2015.

>> peter is live. swanky music, first of all. ooh. how much is the car? >> reporter: they haven't announced pricing yet. but probably -- car companies don't usually raise prices much from one model year to another. it should be similar to a current model year mustang. >> what would that be? i don't even know. >> reporter: $20,000. >> that's a lot. >> reporter: a base model car. >> it is a beautiful car. have you driven it? >> of course not. no. this car has only just been revealed. they're only doing some changes to it. there are a few specs they're not talking about yet. this car will not be ready for journalists to test drive for a little while yet. as i said it's not going on sale until the fall. >> it looks like it's being marketed to young people i would assume. >> they've told me in the past that the mustang is the one model that sells to literally just about everybody. yeah, young people like it. they get the low-cost cars. older buyers who remember the

mustang from when they were kids -- especially empty nest parents, parents whose kids have finally gone off to college, can live the dream and it's popular with older folks as well. >> it looks like the old-style mustang. not that one in particular but looks like a throwback to me. >> it does. they've gone with -- they've proved with the last generation mustang that that retro styling is very, very popular. when they did the last generation, the current car also kind of looks like the original '60s car. it's been very popular. they didn't want to leave that behind. they've updated it significantly. it's smoother. it's rounder. it's a great-looking car. they still want to retain that classic look. >> it's a beautiful car and peter valdez-depena, thank you for showing it to us this morning. we appreciate it. bye, peter. i don't think he could hear me. tonight at 9:00 pm eastern, cnn will air a powerful

documentary. unreal dream tells the story of michael morton robbed 25 years of his life. day after his 32nd birthday. the year was 1986. morton's wife was attacked and killed in their texas home. he was at work at the time and he had no motive, yet he was charged, tried and convicted for murder. now freed with the help from the innocence project, morton spoke with cnn's chris cuomo. >> i am probably the personification of that old axiom you remember from school, you can't prove a negative. how do you prove you didn't do something? >> how rough was it inside? >> i never liked it but i got used to it. >> how long did it take you? >> probably 14 or 15 years. >> 14 or 15 years? >> to get to where i was used to it. >> are the first years the hardest? >> the first years are hard just because it's a shock and it's

new and it's constant adjustment, constant recalibra tcht recalibration. >> you say you always knew you would get out. >> faith that i knew i was right, that i wasn't guilty and this would work out or just i didn't know how deep i was in. >> morton was exonerated in 2011 thanks to dna testing, testing that was not available back in 1987. and, yes, police have the real suspect in custody. it's an amazing story. you can see the unreal dream tonight. the michael morton story on cnn 9:00 pm eastern. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] we give you relief from your cold symptoms.

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whales are still standed off the florida everglades national park. the outlook is not good and they're still not sure how many can be saved. it's also still not clear why the whales beached themselves. john zarrella has more from the everglades. >> reporter: carol, the coast guard has now joined the effort to save the whales. a cutter is out there to provide a security perimeter around the whales as well as three smaller coast guard vessels. clearly, time is running out. from the air, the pilot whales look like black pearls spread

over the blue-green waters of the gulf of mexico. surrounding them in boats, rescuers, biologists, everglades national park rangers and volunteers. the whales have been stuck in shallow water at least two days now. the outlook is not good. >> there isn't a whole lot we can do. we tried this technique called herding. trying to get the boats around them and nudge them out, either by sound or moving them around. it wasn't effective the first round. last i heard, they were trying a second time. >> reporter: we could see the rescuers trying to herd the whales, keeping them from heading to the beach where some are already died, moving them toward deeper water. wildlife officials say there were about 50 whale that is stranded themselves. biologists say they don't know why. of those, just over three dozen are still alive. >> you were out there, saying there might be hope they were moving away from that area. the challenge is to get them to go out into deeper water. they're all freely swimming now. >> reporter: the frustrating part is, park official say, the

whales keep circling back. if the whales can't or won't make their way back into deep water, rescuers say it's only a matter of time before they go into distress and their bodies begin to shut down. at that point, they'll have to be euthanized. some of the remaining whales are, officials say, already exhibiting signs of distress. how much longer they can survive, no one is sure. but the rescuers will remain out there until they're saved or all hope is gone. the dilemma is that these whales are like a family. they are a family. and when one or more than one are in trouble or have stranded themselves and died on the beach, like so many of these have, the rest of the whales are reluctant to leave. carol? >> john zarrella reporting. thank you. hide the kids eyes and cover their ears. santa is coming to town. but his eyes are not exactly twinkling. this santa is warning of trouble, big trouble at the north pole. here is cnn's jeanne moos.

>> reporter: it looks like a hostage video. instead of al qaeda, it's santa. >> i bring bad tidings. >> reporter: none other than the butler carson of downton abbey. instead of serving he's dishing out threats. if the ice stop melting at the north pole due to global warming -- >> there may be no alternative but to cancel christmas. >> no! >> reporter: oh, yes. in this spot for greenpeace, santa says he has written to presidents obama and putin but all he has ever gotten is indifference. >> these individuals are now at the top of my naughty list. i've never been called a liberal in my life and i don't intend to stop now. >> reporter: jim carter has been a member of greenpeace for 30 years. >> please help me.

>> reporter: but santa? critics say the arctic ice actually increased this past year. organization of climate change skeptics told cnn santa should be celebrating the return of the ice but those who believe in global warming say the long-term trend is toward a steep decline in arctic ice. and what about the decline in santa's jolly appearance? >> i have to warn you of the possibility of an empty stocking forevermore. >> reporter: sad sack santa provoked comments like, i hope you are proud of yourselves, greenpeace, for scaring innocent children with your bully-boy tactics, as usual. after all, kids freak out even over rosie cheeked santas. not since this robber have we seen such a sorry excuse for a santa, though i've interviewed a

few. >> don't drink and drive. you might spill it. >> reporter: this guy sure doesn't inspire -- ♪ joy to the world >> reporter: he conjures up and who would you like to save the ice caps? this man or this one? jeanne moos. "legal view" with ashleigh banfield starts now. it is not just cold and miserable out there. it is downright dangerous. and if that's not bad enough already, another wave of snow and ice is right behind this one. find out how much worse it could get. also ahead, a possible national championship. the heisman trophy, and a young man's freedom all on the line. we're about to find out i